Real Madrid have the best goalkeeper on the planet in Thibaut Courtois, who is a two-time Champions League winner and a key leader for Madrid, but as he is getting older, the club is preparing to potentially sign a younger goalkeeper to replace him, Bart Verbruggen and Gregor Kobel are on their shortlist.
Former Diario AS and Relevo reporter Jorge C. Picon has written a detailed report on X.com about how worried Real Madrid are about losing Courtois, who has been their great equalizer over the years, clearly coming good after Florentino Perez controversially replaced Keylor Navas with the big Belgian, who struggled early in his tenure.
Although Real Madrid have one of the world’s best backups in Andriy Lunin, who is fully capable of starting, Picon reports that there are still those in the building not convinced he is the right man to replace Tibo despite being a great keeper – and Lunin, once again, is still contemplating leaving Madrid for a new opportunity to be the main man in 2026.
Madrid are high on Kobel, who has been one of the world’s best goalkeepers for years in saving Borussia Dortmund week after week, and the Swiss international is every bit as good as his predecessor Yann Sommer.
Meanwhile, Verbruggen is doing great work for Brighton in the Premier League, and while he is not as touted as Kobel and debatably may only be as good as Lunin, he is an intriguing name from the most competitive league in the world with a save percentage of 71.8 this season.
Real Madrid won’t have to worry about losing Courtois for a few more years, but if they are and they want someone definitively better than the talented Lunin, then Kobel may be the ace up their sleeve.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.